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Beaucoup de godparents for the newest bateau in Bordeaux

When children are christened, they usually have a two godparents. Ships have to make do with just a godmother - or so I thought until Friday.

CroisiEurope's newest vessel, MS Cyrano de Bergerac, had both a godfather and a godmother to swing a bottle of Champagne against its hull - not to mention a pair of "godparents of honours" in reserve.

The 180-passenger boat was named at a quayside in the centre of Bordeaux, from where it will operate regular cruises along the Garonnne and Dordogne rivers and the Gironde estuary.

Bordeaux's mayor, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister of France, was among the guests as Brigitte Denis - wife of the mayor of nearby Blaye - and French TV personality Bernard Montiel undertook their godparents' duties.

The boat was blessed by Father Patrick Koehler, rector of the monastery of Mont Saint-Odile, near the CroisiEurope HQ in Alsace.

Bordeaux is set to become an important port for both river cruises and ocean-going ships. Cyrano de Bergerac - named after the French dramatist immortalised in fiction by Edmond Rostand and on film by Gérard Depardieu, and Steve Martin (in Roxanne) - joins sister CroisiEurope vessel Princess d'Aquitaine.

Next year Viking River Cruises and Uniworld will both have vessels operating from the city, which has recently opened the biggest lifting bridge in Europe.